Nurture (2021)

Nurture is the second studio album by the American electronic music producer Porter Robinson, released on April 23, 2021, by Mom + Pop Music. The album was written in the years following Robinson's debut album Worlds (2014), a period when Robinson struggled with mental illness and writer's block. As a result, the album represents a significant stylistic shift in his work; critics noted that the album features a greater emphasis on acoustic instruments and personal lyrics, while retaining many elements of the innovative electronic style of Worlds. The album also prominently features Robinson's voice, as well as a processed, higher-pitched version. The album features themes of depression, and of learning to find beauty in everyday life and the natural world. Several songs also explore themes of family and love for the first time in Robinson's discography.

Several singles were released for the album, beginning with "Get Your Wish" in January 2020. Originally planned for release in September 2020, the album was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading Robinson to alter the tracklist and release additional singles. Nurture released to general critical acclaim, entering popular charts in several regions, including at number one on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums in the United States. The album was also featured on the year-end lists of several publications. Between September 2021 and November 2023, Robinson performed the album in multiple regions as part of the Nurture Live tour.

Background

Porter Robinson experienced an initial surge of popularity at age 18, after the release of several festival-oriented electronic dance music works such as "Say My Name" (2010) and Spitfire (2011). Robinson grew increasingly dissatisfied with his performances, and said that he experienced "four or five fully-blown anxiety attacks onstage" while touring in 2013. His desire to change his musical style led him to write his debut album Worlds (2014), a work that DJ Mag's John Ochoa has retrospectively described as a "breakthrough" that precipitated a wider shift in the electronic music industry.

As a result of the album's positive reception, Robinson had set high expectations for himself, saying in 2018 that he felt he was "under a lot of pressure to do something akin to a follow-up". However, in the years following the album's release, this led to an extended period of depression and writer's block during which he released very little music. In 2016, Robinson released "Shelter", a collaboration with his friend and fellow electronic producer Madeon. In 2017, Robinson released Virtual Self, a eurodance- and trance-inspired production released under an alias of the same name. "Ghost Voices", a single from the EP, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2018.

Composition and development

On the composition of Nurture, Robinson said that it "came after a period of real creative struggle and just a very difficult time emotionally". He claimed that he produced a hundred demos attempting to replicate Worlds's style, but eventually decided that "Worlds itself became something for [him] to resist". This resulted in lyrical content that focuses on the topics of depression and writer's block, according to AllMusic's Paul Simpson. Our Culture's Konstantinos Pappis wrote that the album as a whole places more emphasis on lyrics. For the album's title, Robinson considered "Only Hope" before Nurture was ultimately chosen due to its similarity with the word "nature". The choice of Nurture as the album's title also serves as a reference to the nature versus nurture debate, which Robinson hoped could "make [people] feel like they can change the way they think of themselves and improve themselves."

The Line of Best Fit's Sophie Walker noted that this is the first time that Robinson has prominently featured his singing voice in his work. PopMatters's Chris Conaton also wrote that songs such as "Look at the Sky" often harmonize his voice with a heavily processed version, which is autotuned and increased in pitch to sound more feminine. According to Robinson, the processed version of his voice served to add a "corruption and artificiality" to the sound, while also giving "a way of not having to risk the rejection of really trying to sing".